ANCILLAR MANGENA, 26

THE EVENTS of September 11, 2001, which shook the world and kept journalists on their feet, sparked the news hound in Ancillar Mangena, who was watching the sad loss of life on television from a different continent.

It was her birthday but the sixth grader was glued to the news, intrigued for a whole week.

“It left an ever-burning fire in my heart. I wished I was there. In that same week, I knew I wanted to be a journalist,” she said.

Born in Zimbabwe, Mangena studied in Joburg and is a journalist at Forbes Africa magazine, where she does research, interviews and writes about Africa’s influential people in the world of business.

She recently put together the annual Forbes Africa 30 Under-30s project, which features the continent’s brightest and most successful entrepreneurs under the age of 30.

“I also co-host Business Tonight on CNBC Africa, which gives a wrap of the market day,” she said.

Her inspiration is her single-parent mother and her hopes are for a prosperous African continent.

“Before I identify as a Zimbabwean,or South African, my adoptive country, I identify as a black female African living in Africa. My dreams for Africa are an Africa that is willing to work together; an Africa where human rights are respected,” she said.

She was awarded the 2015 Sanlam Excellence in Financial Journalism award and in 2016 the CNN/ Multichoice Africa Young Journalist of the Year award.

“To me, Youth Day means opportunity. The youth of 1976 fought for our political freedom and today’s youth should be fighting for financial freedom. The youth of 1976… created an opportunity for us to not only dream, but live in a country where we can make our dreams come true,” Mangena said.